HYANNIS — Her eyes closed. Pain etched into the furrows of her brow as she described the devastated landscape.

"Houses utterly destroyed. People's homes washed away. Cars piled up in the streets, and in some places, boats washed far away from the shore and onto streets," said Brewster resident Lou Anne Colombo of neighborhoods in Rockaway, N.Y. "Everywhere we went, there were belongings piled up in yards and people trying to get a start at cleaning things up."

Last week, Colombo and friend Len Campanale delivered a van full of food, clothing and cleaning supplies to victims of Hurricane Sandy. This Sunday they will return with more items donated by Cape Cod residents. Colombo is collecting goods at her Hyannis florist shop, the Bee and Blossom at 675 Main St. Among the items she hopes to receive — Christmas gifts for children and teenagers.

"People aren't going to have time to worry about Christmas shopping, not with what they are faced with now," she said.

For Colombo, the mission is personal. Shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, she began organizing free Cape vacations for New York City firefighter families. By the summer of 2002, she had helped 150 families vacation on the Cape through a network of friends and business owners. Friendships blossomed. Colombo said one of the major lessons she learned from that experience was "helping others helps us, more than we might realize."

Friendships she made in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, involve people who have been hurt by the hurricane, directly or through their work as New York firefighters and police officers. So when the hurricane struck, she called friends in New York asking, "What can I do?"

Elsie Deery, widow of a New York firefighter, and Debbie McWilliams, wife of a New York firefighter, were able to connect her with a church in Rockaway, N.Y., serving as a distribution center, she said.

After making the delivery, Colombo and Campanale drove along side streets, becoming increasingly distraught at the destruction.

"People were really touched and surprised that people from Cape Cod want to help. They were grateful, but they are also still scared. There's still so much chaos," Colombo said.

In addition to providing material goods for recovery, Colombo hopes to see those who are able to volunteer labor for cleanup and rebuilding.

"Many of these are the homes of working-class people. Everything they had was in those homes," she said. "Who knows how many of them had insurance and even if they did, whether it will cover the damage. There are elderly people who just can't do this work themselves."